$5,500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship Day 2 | 2009 Aruba Poker Classic

10-07-2009 20:04 UTC-3

All In For Cuba!

[user66118]

Jean-Robert Bellande is in the room checking on his buddies who still have chip stacks. He's got ulterior motives too though, trying to convince Eric Mizrachi and Gavin Smith to go to Cuba with him. He arrived at Smith's table just as Gavin was getting involved in a pot.

On a board showing {9-Clubs}

, Smith yelled, "All in for Cuba!" and shoved the rest of his stack forward. His opponent called him down, and Gavin tabled {3-Spades}

for the winning straight. That earns the gregarious pro a big double up to 50,000.

"I guess Cuba will have to wait," said Bellande as his buddy stacked that pot.

Tags: Gavin Smith Jean-Robert Bellande

10-07-2009 19:55 UTC-3

Play Resumes

[user66118]

Ninety more minute of poker for Day 2. The big board shows 105 players remaining and an average chip stack of 67,000.

Level: 10

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 200

10-07-2009 19:47 UTC-3

Pause, Please

[user66118]

Four levels down; one to go. The players are on a 10-minute break.

10-07-2009 19:45 UTC-3

Ross Goes Flushing

[user66118]

Matt Ross opened the pot with a raise to 2,500, and a player two seats over three-bet it up to 6,200. Ross smooth called when the bet folded back around, and the two men went heads up to a flop.

It came out {3-Clubs}

, and Ross checked. His opponent fired out 8,000, and Ross check-shoved all in for more than 100,000. After a long session in the tank, his opponent eventually called with a similar stack to put a huge pot up for grabs.

Showdown
Ross: {A-Clubs}

Opponent:

Ross was trailing with his overcards, but he was drawing live to his ace and to the nut flush. The {4-Diamonds}

on the river was an airball, but the {5-Clubs}

filled out the board, giving Ross that winning flush and shipping him the largest pot of the tournament so far.

Ross couldn't help himself, shooting out of his chair and yelling, "Yes! Yes! Da! Da!" pumping his fists in celebration. (He's not Russian, just happy.) When the chips were counted down, he did indeed have his opponent slightly covered.

After stacking up that near-double, Ross is over 230,000 and hot on the heels of chip leader Robert Mizrachi.

Tags: Matt Ross

10-07-2009 19:20 UTC-3

Pahuja Steaming

[user66118]

A player raised the action to 3,000 from under the gun and action folded around to Vinny Pahuja on the button. Pahuja tanked and tanked before finally reraising to 11,000. The two blinds got out of the way and then the player under the gun moved all in for 17,000 total. Pahuja quickly called.

Pahuja tabled {A-Clubs}

and was ahead of his opponent's {A-Hearts}

, but after the board ran out {K-Hearts}

, Pahuja was second best to his opponent's flush.

Pahuja has had multiple opponents on the ropes today, but lost nearly every single one of those big confrontations despite being ahead when the money went in. He's down to 35,000 now and steaming.

10-07-2009 19:17 UTC-3

Top Dogs

[user66118]

Here are your top chip stacks from the remaining 114 players.

Robert Mizrachi - 276,000
Jon Favaloro - 235,000
James Czarnecki - 205,000
Eric Baldwin - 165,000
David Perkins - 165,000
Alessandro Nocerino - 145,000
John Clancy - 145,000
Scott "yaboystu" Stewart - 120,000
Matt Ross - 120,000

10-07-2009 19:13 UTC-3

SusieQue Down Once, Up Twice

[user66118]

A middle-aged man under the gun open-shoved for his last ~11,000 chips holding {A-?}

. Action passed around to Susie "SusieQue" Moncek, and she made the call with {K-?}

to put her opponent at risk. To her frustration, an ace peeled off the deck to ship the man across the table a much-needed double up.

That pot dropped SusieQue down to 8,300, and she would be all in a short time later with {A-?}

. She was looked up by an opponent with pocket fours, and Moncek managed to find herself a second {5-?}

on board to notch a crucial double.

A few hands later, Moncek again moved in, this time with {A-?}

. She was up against another pocket pair, {5-?}

. Once again, Susie would win the race, pulling a king off the deck to double again.

After that exchange, Moncek has climbed up over 30,000.

Tags: Susie Moncek

10-07-2009 19:02 UTC-3

More for Mordue

[user66118]

James Mordue raised to 2,800 from the cutoff and was called by Tim "Tmay420" West on the button. The flop came down {7-Spades}

and Mordue fired 5,500. West made the call.

The turn brought the {A-Spades}

and both players checked.

The river was the {J-Hearts}

and Mordue fired 14,000. West commented that the turn card was a terrible card for his hand and then mucked, dropping to about 40,000. Mordue, on the other hand, moved up to 98,000.

Tags: James Mordue Tim West tmay420

10-07-2009 18:56 UTC-3

Ross Rakes Another Pot

[user66118]

Matt Ross opened the pot with an early-position raise to 2,400. He found action in one place, and the heads-up flop rolled out {A-?}

. Ross continued out with a bet of 4,600, and his opponent quickly made the call.

The turn card brought a {4-?}

, and Ross passed this time. His opponent seized the opportunity to bet 8,000, only to see Ross check-raise all in. After some quick mental gymnastics, his opponent made the call for his own tournament life, Ross having him slightly covered.

Showdown
Ross: {A-?}

Opponent:

Top two was the best hand for Ross, and he would need to fade only a four to notch the knockout. When the river ragged off, he did indeed scoop the pot to nearly double his way up to 125,000.

Tags: Matt Ross